Quick Take:
The City of Santa Cruz is opposing a plan to release rapist Michael Cheek from state custody and place him in a hotel on Ocean Street, if a first option in Watsonville is “not viable.”
The City of Santa Cruz is opposing a proposal to the release of convicted rapist Michael Cheek from state custody into a hotel blocks away from the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
The proposal, filed by the California Department of State Hospitals (DSH), is asking for the Santa Cruz County Superior Court to release him from custody and house him in a hotel on Main Street in Watsonville. If the court rejects the Watsonville location, Cheek could be placed in a hotel on Ocean Street in Santa Cruz.
Cheek was convicted in 1980 of kidnapping a 21-year-old woman off Seacliff State Beach and raping her at gunpoint. After escaping from custody a year later, Cheek was convicted of committing a nearly identical crime against a 15-year-old in Lake County.
Cheek has been in state custody since 1981, and has spent nearly 26 years in a Fresno County state hospital. He was cleared for release in 2019, but the state couldn’t find a placement in a community setting. In 2024, a plan to release him into a supervised home in an Aptos neighborhood fell through following objections from public officials and neighbors.
Cheek “should not reside in any hotel setting,” Santa Cruz city officials said in a media release Tuesday evening. The statement also said that the proposed location is frequently occupied by families and children, “creating unavoidable contact with potential victims.”
The city of Santa Cruz also is objecting to DSH’s focus on placing Cheek anywhere in Santa Cruz County.
In Watsonville, city officials said Tuesday that placing Cheek in their city is not in the best interest of the community. The proposed location is centered in the community’s busy commercial corridor, near parks and family-serving spaces, the officials said in a statement. The city is working to organize a town hall to gather input from the community, and encourages residents to submit comments to the court by April 27 via email at criminalinfo@santacruzcourt.org.
A placement hearing is scheduled for May 22 at 1:30 p.m. at the Santa Cruz Superior Court.
